THE GENERAL - MONSTERS - Official Discussion Thread. NO LINKS OR ASKING FOR LINKS

[Tyson]

I like The General but I just think it kinda reeks of a missed opportunity.  If Axl had just layed off the effects and if they'd insterted a great Slash solo in the middle it could have been a lot better

[fabrph5]

1 hour ago, Miden34 said:

why do people have this NEED for generic rock. fuck me between ace frehly and bach, no one writes songs like "easy does it" by Coverdale & Page. 

shit even shake my tree. now THATS unique. but everyone seems content with boring, "Stock rock" 

maybe because that type of music is what made them so popular? The fact is, he sounds way better than axl today and the song will be more popular.  Funny, everyone on here complaining about how bad the General is and wanting them to make new music that "sounds like Gnr" dis bands that actually make music that sound like who they are.

Edited December 9, 2023 by fabrph5

[Miden34]

12 minutes ago, fabrph5 said:

maybe because that type of music is what made them so popular? The fact is, he sounds way better than axl today and the song will be more popular.  Funny, everyone on here complaining about how bad the General is and wanting them to make new music that "sounds like Gnr" dis bands that actually make music that sound like who they are.

you miss the point. it would be as awkward to hear them do AFD 2.0 as it was to suffer through ace frehly trying to be 30 again in the 10,000 headaches video

i'd rather have "the general" GnR than the ace frehly-trying-to-hard-to-be-30-again version of guns.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Miden34

[Miden34]

i dont want a group of 60 year old men writing new songs about "I've been thinkin' bout thinkin' bout sex. always hungry for somethin' that i havent had yet." no thank you. At least the general has a meaning behind the song. 

Edited December 9, 2023 by Miden34

[fabrph5]

10 minutes ago, Miden34 said:

you miss the point. it would be as awkward to hear them do AFD 2.0 as it was to suffer through ace frehly trying to be 30 again in the 10,000 headaches video

i'd rather have "the general" GnR than the ace frehly-trying-to-hard-to-be-30-again version of guns.

I think people commenting are missing my point.  I am talking more about the quality of the sound, the production.  i just heard the General on Ozzies boneyard, and it actually didn't sound that bad

[Gnrcane]

6 minutes ago, Miden34 said:

i dont want a group of 60 year old men writing new songs about "I've been thinkin' bout thinkin' bout sex. always hungry for somethin' that i havent had yet." no thank you. At least the general has a meaning behind the song. 

How about, "I've been thinkin' bout thinkin' bout sex but I haven't checked the mailbox for the viagra yet?"  

I agree, that any new lyrics should be written from an adult perspective and not a teenager perspective.  Otherwise, it isn't authentic at all.

My only request is for them not to do a "being famous is a pain, poor me" song that many like to do at some point in their career.

[Miden34]

7 minutes ago, fabrph5 said:

I think people commenting are missing my point.  I am talking more about the quality of the sound, the production.  i just heard the General on Ozzies boneyard, and it actually didn't sound that bad

GOT YA!!!!! ok yeah i agree then xD

 

5 minutes ago, Gnrcane said:

How about, "I've been thinkin' bout thinkin' bout sex but I haven't checked the mailbox for the viagra yet?"  

I agree, that any new lyrics should be written from an adult perspective and not a teenager perspective.  Otherwise, it isn't authentic at all.

My only request is for them not to do a "being famous is a pain, poor me" song that many like to do at some point in their career.

Its why im so enamored with the rolling stones album. its catches their older works magic but the lyrics and songs fit them now and how they look live. 

[We love Axl Rose]

5 hours ago, Blackstar said:

And it's not even months since it leaked (it's only 6 weeks). I'm sure that by the time Monsters is released it will be slammed as being "shit", too.

Let them just try! 

[Let And Let Live]

Listening to The General on YT, haven't heard the other one.

[Lethalis]

22 minutes ago, Miden34 said:

Its why im so enamored with the rolling stones album. its catches their older works magic but the lyrics and songs fit them now and how they look live. 

Whole Wide World and Mess It Up are on repeat here. Great songs.

It's crazy they're still with us and released a new album. Mick Jagger is friggin' 80 years old.

Nothing can touch them. GNR doesn't even come close (sorry).

[Blackstar]

I don't love The General and I don't hate it either. I'm okay with it as another song added to the official catalogue. I don't think it's one of the best songs in the catalogue, but it's not the worst either - I think it's better than some songs on CD and even a couple on UYI.

Would I listen to it again if it were a song I knew anything about by another band that I was only a casual fan of? Probably not. But I do know its history and what the lyrics are about, so I can't judge it from a distance. I'm more receptive to some of the artistic choices and the general "mood" of it, since I can make a connection between them and the subject matter.

3 hours ago, fabrph5 said:

These "new" songs are just odd all around.  Listen to Sebastian Bachs NEW song.  Besides the fact that he still sounds really good, the overall sound is also really good.  Why can't this band just release something on that level?  A comment said, "I heard the new GnR and was filling bummed, then I heard this" Kind of my feelings as well.

Production can improve a song significantly or make it worse. But, ultimately, the songwriting and performance is what makes a song good or bad (and that is, to a large extent, subjective, of course). I don't know how the "general public" and casual fans would respond if GN'R wrote a generic song with lyrics and video like this Sebastian Bach song, but the majority response on here would be worse than it is for The General no matter if it was a newly written song and was well produced.

Edited December 9, 2023 by Blackstar

[Miden34]

4 minutes ago, Lethalis said:

Whole Wide World and Mess It Up are on repeat here. Great songs.

It's crazy they're still with us and released a new album. Mick Jagger is friggin' 80 years old.

Nothing can touch them. GNR doesn't even come close (sorry).

100% agree and this comes from someone who outside of two songs from 97'(already over me and and anybody seen my baby from bridges to babylon) and angie along with wild horses is not really a big rolling stones fan.  

[Mikey Whipwreck]

The song would fit better in the context of an album than as a standalone. On an album alongside songs like Shackler's, Oh My God, State of Grace, original Silkworms, Sorry, Monsters, it works. I really like the pre-chorus and chorus as well as the solo.

The most disappointing thing is the mixing and mastering. They ruined the song there. CD got a lot of criticism for overdoing the wall of sound approach with a million layers but whether you liked the approach or not, that album was meticulously mixed and mastered and sounds great on quality stereo or headphones.

This flat, lifeless, overcompressed approach just sucks the life out of the songs. It sounds so much better live. Same thing they did with Hard School. Perhaps sounds decent for whatever reason.

Also in classic GNR fashion, of the best songs from the leaks (Monsters, SoG and Perhaps), they've only released one. And they managed to make the reviled Silkworms and mediocre Hard School worse. I have no doubt the 2007 version of The General is better than this. 

 

[adamsapple]

54 minutes ago, Gnrcane said:

How about, "I've been thinkin' bout thinkin' bout sex but I haven't checked the mailbox for the viagra yet?"  

I agree, that any new lyrics should be written from an adult perspective and not a teenager perspective.  Otherwise, it isn't authentic at all.

My only request is for them not to do a "being famous is a pain, poor me" song that many like to do at some point in their career.

If we had a new song for every unnecessary political commentary Axl made on Twitter we'd be drowing in GNR albums by now. Dude needs a girlfriend badly.

[D4NNY]

Was listening again today and came to a realisation that The General would fit extremely well on either of the first 2 Scream soundtracks from the 90s (I listened to them a lot as a teen).. now I can’t get them movies out of my head every time I hear “don’t know what to tell ya now” 😅

But back to serious, the song does sound slightly dated to me compared to Perhaps, HS and Absurd even though they date that far back also. I think it’s those Brain ‘2000’s hip hop’ beats. I like it but still far from a favourite. 

[GNRRHCP98]

1 hour ago, Blackstar said:

I don't love The General and I don't hate it either. I'm okay with it as another song added to the official catalogue. I don't think it's one of the best songs in the catalogue, but it's not the worst either - I think it's better than some songs on CD and even a couple on UYI.

Would I listen to it again if it were a song I knew anything about by another band that I was only a casual fan of? Probably not. But I do know its history and what the lyrics are about, so I can't judge it from a distance. I'm more receptive to some of the artistic choices and the general "mood" of it, since I can make a connection between them and the subject matter.

Production can improve a song significantly or make it worse. But, ultimately, the songwriting and performance is what makes a song good or bad (and that is, to a large extent, subjective, of course). I don't know how the "general public" and casual fans would respond if GN'R wrote a generic song with lyrics and video like this Sebastian Bach song, but the majority response on here would be worse than it is for The General no matter if it was a newly written song and was well produced.

This take 

Couldn’t have said it better myself, Blackstar.

[Kosonen]

Annoying earworm it is

[Carburetta]

7 hours ago, JimiRose said:

They played the General at Crystal Palace v Liverpool in the premier league pre kick off, so the dj there must be a GnR fan, coz there's no way axls childhood rape orchestral epic is a song that would be enjoyed in the build up to a big football match 

Also seen a few people suggesting the pixilation on the vinyl is on purpose - it isn't. the digital releases and all artwork GnR have posted or released to press do NOT have this pixilation issue. It's just a fuck up using a shitty small image they've stretched. A mistake a 14 year old intern might make, but not a single person with any design or grapic imagery experience would make. So very very GnR. 

A good song, that would have had soo much more impact released as part of an album with soul monster immediately after. never ever a mainstream digital single. Again, so very very disappointingly GnR. 

No way.

[ZoSoRose]

4 hours ago, axljungle said:

Iron Maiden won’t do a new Run to the hills/The trooper, neither Bob Jovi another Living On A Prayer, nor Rolling Stones another Satisfaction/Paint it Black, etc but for no reason people are more respectful with that bands.

Maiden and the Stones write fresh, quality music that appeals to their bases. GnR release dates 20-year old rejects. You don’t see the difference?

3 hours ago, Miden34 said:

Still obsessed with Depending On You by the rolling stones man. their new album is fire. 

It’s a great record

[jimisbatman]

4 hours ago, Voodoochild said:

Although there were several people warning that the leak was the final mix. I know the educated guess from people like me couldn't be taken as gospel, but still...

I think there is a lot of overreaction to this track. I knew for sure that it would be divisive, but it seems that the negativity is way out of proportion. I saw some popular Brazilian twitter account saying this was the worst thing ever, and to me this is obviously not true. And I get, regular non-fan people won't compare this to CD or things like Shotgun Blues and Reckless Life/Anything Goes (I like all of those songs, I just think the overall opinion on them are not so great), they will compare with their peak. Which is fair in a way, but it's also delusional because they will never write a new WTTJ or Estranged. 

I mean, if you don't like it, it's fine. But it's not the end of the world nor the band. 

They did many songs that easily rival Estranged....... Twat, TIL, Prostitute, locker leaks The Blues {josh}. 

Yes you need to judge the new stuff for what it is.... Potentially leftovers, copy * pasted stuff. It is what it is.... Judging by the artwork, promotion, clicks in the track, one could assume they are really incompetent or don't really care. Bottom line, it is what it is. Enjoy it for what it is. 

[Amir]

I wasn't expecting the mix itself to be different from the leak, but I was expecting the clipping to be gone. What on earth happened there???

[kever20]

2 minutes ago, Amir said:

I wasn't expecting the mix itself to be different from the leak, but I was expecting the clipping to be gone. What on earth happened there???

I assume they will be scheduling additional 3 hour meetings, no?

[Voodoochild]

9 minutes ago, jimisbatman said:

They did many songs that easily rival Estranged....... Twat, TIL, Prostitute, locker leaks The Blues {josh}. 

Yes you need to judge the new stuff for what it is.... Potentially leftovers, copy * pasted stuff. It is what it is.... Judging by the artwork, promotion, clicks in the track, one could assume they are really incompetent or don't really care. Bottom line, it is what it is. Enjoy it for what it is. 

I don’t think those songs are in the same level as Estranged. But that’s just my opinion. And I do love TWAT and SOD/The Blues. 

And I agree that they are incompetent with mastering and releasing it, but I don’t see it as a leftover. 

[SoulMonster]

2 hours ago, adamsapple said:

If we had a new song for every unnecessary political commentary Axl made on Twitter we'd be drowing in GNR albums by now. Dude needs a girlfriend badly.

Yes, only guys without girlfriends make political commentaries on a rate of about one per year. 

[Lelex95]

11 minutes ago, jimisbatman said:

They did many songs that easily rival Estranged....... Twat, TIL, Prostitute, locker leaks The Blues {josh}. 

Yes you need to judge the new stuff for what it is.... Potentially leftovers, copy * pasted stuff. It is what it is.... Judging by the artwork, promotion, clicks in the track, one could assume they are really incompetent or don't really care. Bottom line, it is what it is. Enjoy it for what it is. 

I think twat is a good rival, I always thought of til as the don’t cry of the cd era. 
I don’t know about prostitute tho, I like it but I never thought of it as the big gun it was supposed to be.